REACH for help

25 Sep 2018

Patients and their families can now more easily alert staff to a change in a medical condition or raise concerns they may have about clinical care following the expansion of the REACH program to all Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District hospitals.

R.E.A.C.H which stands for: Recognise, Engage, Act, Call, Help is on the way, provides a clear path for people to escalate their concerns.

Information provided during admission, and available at the bedside, outlines the steps patients and families can take if they have concerns.

The first step is talk to their nurse. If they continue to be worried they can ask for a ‘Clinical Review’.

If they are unsatisfied with the Review they can ask a senior nurse for an independent review or a ‘REACH Call’.

The REACH model is a graded approach to patient and family activated escalation developed by the Clinical Excellence Commission’s Partnering with Patients program.

The Program aims to give patients and their families the confidence to raise concerns and a guarantee they will be taken seriously.